Headlines - 04.03.2013 In suspense about the north (Express) Kosovo Prime Minister Hashim Thaçi will return without an agreement on the north of Kosovo if his Serb counterpart Ivica Dacic doesn’t give in to his demand for executive powers for the association of Serb municipalities. Sources told the paper that it is very unlikely Dacic will concede. Meanwhile, authorities in Brussels are insisting that an agreement should be reached. “But such a thing is impossible if executive competencies are sought for the association as this would be outside the Constitution of Kosovo and would not be accepted”, a senior Kosovo Government official told the paper.  Serbia’s “three scenarios” for discussions (Zëri) Serbian media reported on Sunday that state leadership of Serbia met in Belgrade behind the closed doors to discuss Kosovo. No statements for media were planned after the meeting and, according to Serbian daily Blic, state leadership discussed “three scenarios” for the dialogue with Kosovo: to insist until the end of the dialogue on creating a community of Serbian municipalities; to fulfill EU’s conditions; for the governing coalition to confirm negotiations for the date with EU, which is an extremely high price for Serbia.  LDK against executive role for association of municipalities (Koha Ditore) LDK leader Isa Mustafa said the party is not concerned what name the association of municipalities in the north will have but stresses that no mechanism in the north should have legislative and executive powers. “It can only have a cooperation role as other municipalities can have and we will insist on this principle as we do not need to dialogue on issues regulated in the Constitution,” said Mustafa. Tahiri: Association in accordance to Ahtisaari Package (Epoka e Re) In an interview for the paper, Kosovo President’s advisor Ramush Tahiri said the association of Serb municipalities is guaranteed and specified in the Kosovo legislation and its Constitution. Tahiri said the association is not in conflict with the Ahtissari package; all those who claim otherwise are not referring to the Kosovo Constitution, but the Platform of Serbia and its Constitution. “This is a good thing and helps cooperation and is in the best interest of citizens,” he said. PDK, AKR “restarting” coalition (Koha Ditore) Hashim Thaçi and Behgjet Pacolli are preparing to “restart” their governing coalition not only by appointing several new ministers but also by signing a new coalition agreement. This was announced by a source from PDK explaining what the leaders of the two ruling parties, PDK and AKR, discussed. According to the source in the last meeting, Thaçi and Pacolli did not discuss the names of new ministers or of ministers that need to be replaced: “AKR wanted immediately that night to finish the work, but the team from PDK said that they will not talk about names before an agreement on new governing principles is signed.” According to the source, there are those, even in PDK, who think that the number of deputy ministers should be reduced to cut costs. Another measure, which PDK mentioned, is the possibility of merging more than 30 independent agencies. The source said that AKR has agreed in principle about such an approach. Romania considering recognition of Kosovo (dailies) Romanian foreign minister Titus Korlacean said it would be a mistake if Romania didn’t consider the changes and progress Kosovo has made. “There is a political reality in Kosovo which needs to be treated in an intelligent and open way,” said Korlacean, reports Serbian news agency Beta. “Romania should look carefully how the dialogue between Kosovo and Serbia facilitated by EU High Representative for Foreign Policy Catherine Ashton is being conducted. This is the reality which Bucharest should consider,” said Korlacean.