• LDK and LVV optimistic on reaching coalition agreement within this week (media)
• LVV denies having agreed to endorse LDK candidate for president of Kosovo (Zeri)
• Kusari-Lila: Lack of coalition agreement, disappointment for citizens (Klan Kosova)
• Rugova: LVV-LDK agreement to include president's post (Epoka e Re)
• UK, Swiss embassies condemn statements of Serbian officials (media)
• Osmani: Kosovo commemorates victims of genocide, EU rewards Serbia (media)
• PDK leader Veseli to be interviewed today in The Hague (media)

Kosovo Media Highlights

LDK and LVV optimistic on reaching coalition agreement within this week (media)

Registration of the new MPs for the seventh legislation of the Assembly of Kosovo started on Monday. The MPs expressed optimism that the agreement for the ruling coalition between Vetevendosje Movement (LVV) and the Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK) will be reached during this week and that the Assembly will constitute within this month.

Haxhi Avdyli from LDK expressed conviction that the Assembly will constitute within 30 days. He added that further delays are unnecessary, therefore the agreement will be reached. Hekuran Murati from LVV also said he was hopeful that the agreement will be reached within this week.

However, Professor of the Constitutional Right Mazllum Baraliu is skeptical about the agreement being reached. He claims that chances for new elections are great.

LVV denies having agreed to endorse LDK candidate for president of Kosovo (Zeri)

Officials from the Vetevendosje Movement (LVV) have denied reports that the party has agreed to endorse a candidate from the Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK) as part of the agreement to form the new government.

LVV spokesperson Arlind Manxhuka said that the fact there has been no new meeting between LVV and LDK shows that the parties remain in the positions which are known to all. “This news is fake and a provocation,” he said.

Kusari-Lila: Lack of coalition agreement, disappointment for citizens (Klan Kosova)

Mimoza Kusari-Lila, candidate for MP from Vetevendosje Movement (LVV) said lack of eventual agreement between LVV and the Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK) would be an unforgivable mistake for both political entities.  She added that there is hope of the people for a different way of governance and this hope should not fade. According to Kusari-Lila, it is important that the two political parties managed to accord 100 percent of their governing programs.

“I am optimistic just like the others from the two political entities that the agreement will be reached and that any kind of stalemate will be overcome. The will to start with governing as soon as possible exists. If conditioning is the main point of a discussion, then we are not talking about trust,” she said.

Rugova: LVV-LDK agreement to include president's post (Epoka e Re)

Deputy leader of the Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK) Haki Rugova said in an interview with the paper that the coalition agreement with Vetevendosje Movement (LVV) should also incorporate the post of Kosovo president.

He argued that for as long as the president is elected by MPs, it should be part of the coalition negotiations while with regards to which party would take the lead of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Rugova said this is an issue that would be decided by the leaders of the two parties, Isa Mustafa and Albin Kurti.

“I am optimistic that an agreement will be reached,” Rugova said adding that this should happen as soon as possible. “Agreement is a political issue but even if there is none, it will not be the end of the world. I don’t want anyone to feel threatened but we will not tolerate anyone’s intimidating or threatening language,” he said.

UK, Swiss embassies condemn statements of Serbian officials (media)

The embassies of the United Kingdom and Switzerland have condemned the statements from Serbian officials denying atrocities in Recak.

In a statement, the British Embassy said: “The UK supports the statements made by the European Union, the UN SRSG and others in response to recent remarks denying the well-documented events that took place in Racak in January 1999. Representatives of all sides have a responsibility to refrain from harmful and provocative rhetoric, which is disrespectful towards victims and their families, and damages prospects of reconciliation and a return to the Dialogue. We trust the judicial institutions in Pristina will follow due process in dealing with all cases in a transparent manner, free from ethnic bias.”

The Swiss Embassy and the Humanitarian Law Centre Kosovo also issued a joint statement saying that coming to terms with the past is fundamental in post-conflict societies and an important element in this is to acknowledge the victims and condemn the crimes.

“Any statements on events of the conflict must be based on facts and show respect to the victims and their families. Revisionism and denial of war crimes must be confronted, especially when it comes from representatives of state institutions,” the statement reads. It adds that the Embassy of Switzerland and HLC Kosovo support strong condemnations to the statement made by Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic denying atrocities in Recak.

Meanwhile, the media report that President of Kosovo Hashim Thaci is to visit the memorial site in Recak today in response to statements made by Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic denying the crimes committed in the village in 1999.

Osmani: Kosovo commemorates victims of genocide, EU rewards Serbia (media)

On the International Day of Commemoration and Dignity of the Victims of Genocide, deputy leader of the Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK) Vjosa Osmani paid tribute to all the victims of crimes committed by Serbian forces in Kosovo.

“Even after more than two decades, the Serbian state continues denying these crimes, expresses no regret over the innocent victims and tries to rewrite history even though Serbian crimes took place before the eyes of the whole world. As we commemorate today all those we lost, the European Union, precisely today rewards Serbia by opening another chapter in the process of European integration,” Osmani wrote on social media.

PDK leader Veseli to be interviewed today in The Hague (media)

Kadri Veseli, leader of the Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK), is expected to be interviewed by Specialist Chambers prosecutors today in The Hague.

Before departure from Pristina, Veseli said he was proud of his past in the Kosovo Liberation Army and would not change a thing. “The Special Court is a challenge versus macabre Serbian crimes, but at the same time it is an international momentum to reconfirm the purity of the war of our people, the war of our army,” he said yesterday.