UNMIK Headlines 16 November
Dacic: We will never abandon the north (dailies)
In yesterday’s visit to the north of Kosovo, Serbian Prime Minister Ivica Dacic said that Serbia has not left Kosovo and that, on the contrary, it is constituting its institutions in municipalities with Serb community. “Serbia will never abandon or forget Serbs of the north of Kosovo”, said Dacic in an election rally in support of the Serb List where he called on local Serbs to take part in the repeat of elections in three polling stations in North Mitrovica.
“We are not calling on you to take part in elections to help Thaçi or Pristina but to take part because this is the only way for Serbs to take power which will be accepted by Pristina and the international community”, said Dacic further.
Government recognizes community of Serb municipalities (Tribuna)
According to the paper the Government of Kosovo has changed its approach towards the association of municipalities with Serb majority when it comes to the title this mechanism will have. The name was one of the sticky points in the dialogue between Serbia and Kosovo with the former insisting it should be called “community” and the other arguing for the term “association”.
However, in the most recent documents of the Kosovo Government the term “association” is being increasingly eliminated giving way to “community”. Example of this is the government’s proposal for amending the law on protection and promotion of rights of communities which speaks of the “community of municipalities with Serb majority in the Republic of Kosovo”.
Daka complains of difficult elections (Koha Ditore)
Head of Central Election Commission Valdete Daka told students of a Pristina college that cost of elections for a small country like Kosovo is very high. She said this is because of the feeling of mistrust that exists and which leads to the need for more security measures in the printing of ballots and other election material.
Although she evaluated recent local elections as successful, Daka also noted that they were the most difficult so far. “They will be remembered as elections organized under the shadow of Kosovo-Serbia dialogue that resulted in additional difficulties and pressure on the organizers”, Daka is quoted.
Borchardt ends visit to Belgrade (Zëri)
EULEX chief Bernd Borchardt concluded his visit to Belgrade where he met Prime Minister Ivica Dacic and his first deputy, Aleksandar Vucic. Among the issues discussed in the meetings was security for upcoming elections in three polling stations in North Mitrovica. Borchardt said that together with Kosovo Police and KFOR, EULEX will make sure that voting takes place in a safe environment.