Headlines - 31.03.2014

Only justice will be discussed (Epoka e Re)

Prime Minister Hashim Thaçi will meet the outgoing Prime Minister of Serbia, Ivica Dacic, today in Brussels as part of the dialogue for the normalization of the relations. PM Thaçi’s political advisor, Bekim Çollaku, told this daily that the main issue to be discussed between Thaçi and Dacic will be technical modalities to start implementing the 19 April agreement in the field of justice.

Thaci and war veterans threaten parliament’s presidency (Zeri)

Prime Minister Hashim Thaci said that if the parliament’s presidency does not submit the bill on war veterans for a vote on Thursday, he will call an extraordinary session of parliament to adopt the bill. “I strongly believe that the law on KLA will be included in the agenda. There is no reason whatsoever to delay the matter,” Thaci said. Meanwhile, KLA War Veterans said they would protest in front of parliament on Thursday if the legislative does not vote on the bill. “We hope the parliament’s presidency will include it in parliament’s agenda for Thursday and that this will be finished once and for all,” said Muharrem Xhemajli, leader of the KLA War Veterans.

Thaçi: Armed forces within this mandate (Epoka e Re)

Prime Minister Hashim Thaçi reiterated on Sunday, during his visit to the “Scards” company, that Kosovo Security Forces will transform into the Armed Forces of Kosovo within this legislature. “There is no reason for delay. We expect now the Constitutional Court to approve a few things about which we requested clarification, and the Assembly of Kosovo will approve the request of the Kosovo Government to create the Armed Forces of Kosovo, an army established by eight-thousand girls and boys of Kosovo,” said Thaçi. He added that the US, NATO and EU support the creation of the Armed Forces of Kosovo.

A tribunal for crimes committed during, after the conflict (Koha Ditore)

The Kosovo Government is insisting that the tribunal that would investigate the allegations made in Dick Marty’s report should be within Kosovo’s legal system. Opposition parties are offering different interpretations on the matter, whereas sources told the paper that the tribunal will have a larger scope of activity. A source close to these developments told the paper that the issue of the tribunal is definite and that it goes beyond war crimes. “One of the possibilities is to investigate members of the political elite believed to be criminals,” the source said. Arben Gashi, member of the LDK chairmanship, said his party believes all high-profile crimes committed during and after the conflict should be investigated. “We would welcome the tribunal to investigate the killings of LDK members,” Gashi said.

Thaci-Mustafa agreements in danger of failing (Tribuna)

An agreement between leaders of PDK and LDK, Hashim Thaci and Isa Mustafa, respectively, to speed up the time to hold new elections risks failing, the paper reports on the front page. At the time of the agreement, Thaci counted on LDK’s support to dismiss the Assembly and announce new elections, but the motion would require two-thirds of the votes and MPs from Vetevendosje and minority communities are against it. Without them, it turns out the total number of votes the motion is likely to receive is 78 out of the required 80. “In a parliamentary republic, the Assembly would have to bring down the Government and not the other way around. As a result, we will not vote for disbanding the Assembly,” said Vetevendosje’s Erzen Vraniqi. At the same time, MPs from minority communities insist on receiving guarantees that their reserved seats will be extended before they can vote for the proposal.

Serbs threaten to boycott elections (Lajm)

Serb politicians from central Kosovo announced that the possible approval of the draft law for general elections by the Kosovo Assembly without the requested changes will force the Serb community to boycott the next general elections. The Kosovo MP from the Serb Joint List, Rada Trajkovic, told Radio Free Europe that putting the draft law on general elections up for discussion at the Kosovo Assembly was the reason behind the decision to abandon Friday’s session of the Assembly by the Serb MPs. Trajkovic says that the majority of Serb MPs think that the reserved seats should be extended for two more mandates, adding that reserved seats in the Kosovo Assembly are very important for the integration of Serbs in the north. According to her, reserved seats are necessary until the process of the returns of displaced Serbs is finalised. The Constitution cannot be changed for one mandate, but, according to Serb leaders, a solution should be sought that would not threaten the reserved seats for minority communities in the Kosovo Assembly that would be acceptable for all parties. If this does not happen, she said Serbs will be forced to boycott elections.

New Slovak president in favor of Kosovo recognition (Lajm)

The winner of presidential elections in Slovakia, philanthropist and former businessmen Andrej Kiska, is a supporter of Kosovo independence. He said that Bratislava should behave towards Kosovo like most majority EU countries. Kosovo and foreign policy were some of the topics discussed in the election campaign and candidates had different views.

Tahiri: Complete disbanding of MUP in north expected (Bota Press)

Deputy Prime Minister Edita Tahiri stated that the so-called Civil Protection that operates illegally in Mitrovica North will be soon dismissed. However, its members will be integrated in Kosovo institutions. According to her, members of this formation would be integrated into the civil and not security institutions. “The integration can happen in different ministries, in that of infrastructure, tax administration, culture…” said Tahiri. Today, a meeting is scheduled to take place between the Ministry of Local Government Administration and two mayors of municipalities in the north to harmonize the statutes. “In the coming days, we will see more meetings with other mayors, however, we have made it clear that statutes will be considered legal only if they are fully in accordance with Kosovo laws,” said Tahiri.

Kurti: Thaçi accepted creation of Tribunal for personal interests  (Bota Sot)

Vetëvendosje leader, Albin Kurti, made serious accusations on Prime Minister Hashim Thaçi’s address. “The Prime Minister of Kosovo’s statement to Euronews more than a month ago, regarding how he was far away from the war fronts, giving up the KLA fighting for close personal interests, paves the road for this tribunal. Ideas for the creation of tribunals against Kosovo are derived by making such statements, which removes KLA’s shield,” said Kurti.  He was not concerned that PM Thaçi has already started the election campaign, saying that no one trusts him anymore. He added that Vetëvendosje will not join any coalition if it does not become the first party in these elections.

Non-ratification of agreements, a violation of constitution (Koha Ditore)

In a front-page report, the daily notes how agreements from the Kosovo-Serbia dialogue have generated problems with Kosovo’s law on international agreements and with the Vienna convention on international treaties. Kosovo’s Parliament said that one of the agreements –on energy and telecommunications – needs to be ratified by MPs to be legal. Skender Hyseni, former Foreign Minister and member of the parliament’s foreign affairs committee, said that every international agreement needs to be ratified in parliament. Hyseni however did not specify which agreements reached between Pristina and Belgrade were not subject to ratification. “If they are international agreements, the Constitution is clear and it says that they need to be sent to parliament,” Hyseni added.