Headlines - 17.12.2013 Ashton impressed with Serbia, proposes start of membership talks (dailies) In her report to EU foreign ministers, European Union High Representative Catherine Ashton did not note that the latest meeting between prime ministers Thaci and Dacic failed to result in an agreement on courts in the northern part of Kosovo. In her report, Ashton positively evaluated the implementation of agreements reached in dialogue and suggested the start of membership talks between Serbia and the European Union.  Ashton did not even mention the failure to reach an agreement on courts, but concluded that “Serbia has met requirements on all key elements, especially by accepting a Basic Court and a basic office of the prosecution for the Mitrovica region”.   “Dear colleagues, in light of our upcoming Council discussions on Serbia and Kosovo and the progress in the process of normalization of relations between them, I would like to update you on the work done on implementation, following the June Council decision. You will recall that in my last reported dated 21 June 2013 I informed you, together with Commissioner Fule, about the implementation work in the aftermath of the 19 April Agreement. Our conclusion was that Belgrade and Pristina had reached an impressive set of achievements; that the work and the efforts of the two sides should be recognized and appreciated by Member States and that clear, positive decisions by the Council would provide the necessary encouragement to continue. You rightly took the decision to open accession negotiations with Serbia and gave mandate to the Commission to open negotiations for an SAA with Kosovo. As a result, the two sides increased and accelerated their efforts. Today I would like to inform you about the work done by the two sides in June; as you will see from what follows, I believe that the substance of the implementation as contained in the Implementation Plan of May 2012 has been completed. While the main principles are agreed, some further work is however needed to finalize the Justice implementation,” Ashton notes in her report.   Delays in implementation of agreement on energy (Koha) The paper notes that even after three months, Kosovo and Serbia have yet to agree on an implementation plan of the agreement on energy. The Kosovo Government on the one hand says it takes time to implement the agreement, while Serbia is rejecting the implementation plan, citing claims on the Vallac transmission tower and the Gazivoda dam, as well as the request to have its own power distributor in the northern part of Kosovo.   Kosovo Deputy Prime Minister Edita Tahiri said, “as far as the agreement is concerned, it has already been reached, but work is being done on its implementation. There are ongoing negotiations in Brussels between working groups on this matter … We have yet to agree on the implementation plan. The moment we agree on this, implementation will commence.”   Zubin Potok mayor illegally appoints brother as Gazivoda director (Koha) The newly-elected mayor of Zubin Potok municipality, Stevan Vulovic, has appointed his brother Srdjan Vulovic as director of the Iber-Lepenci enterprise which manages the hydropower station of Gazivoda Lake. Sources told the paper that Srdjan Vulovic presented himself to staff of the power station as an appointee by Serbian authorities.   The paper notes that Iber-Lepenci is a public enterprise under the ownership of the state of Kosovo. Board members and the chief executive officer of the enterprise are appointed according to the law on public enterprises of the Republic of Kosovo. The enterprise provides water supply to KEK, Ferronikeli, Trepca and the Mitrovica Regional Water Supply.   LDK, Vetëvendosje and KKR, against reserved seats (Koha) The Democratic League of Kosovo, Vetëvendosje movement and Coalition for New Kosovo, objected prolonging of the reserved seats at the Assembly of Kosovo. However, the Democratic Party of Kosovo and the Alliance for the Future of Kosovo, did not vote “for” or “against” this, at the meeting of the Assembly chairmanship, held on Monday.   Head of LDK parliamentary group, Ismet Beqiri, stated that his party does not see any reason to continue with reserved mandates for Serb community. “Allow me to object an untruth told by Minister Rasic. He can only speak on behalf of the party that he belongs to: we do not see any reason, any possibility for ten reserved seats for Serb community,” said Beqiri. Koha Ditore reports that Assembly Speaker, Jakup Krasniqi, is also against the reserved seats for Serb community.   Kosovo, one election zone, 14 days campaign (dailies) During the meeting on election reform, held on Monday at the residence of the British Ambassador, Ian Cliff, representatives of the political parties agreed for Kosovo to have one election zone, for 14 day election campaign, for a 2.5 percent threshold for independent candidates and 5 percent for political parties, while for pre-election coalitions, 7.5 percent. However, officials of the political parties could not reach agreement on the reserved seats for communities at the Assembly of Kosovo.   Bodies recovered in Raska believed to be from Drenica region (Tribuna) Chairman of the Government’s commission for missing persons Prenk Gjetaj and head of Forensic Department Arsim Gërxhaliu reported yesterday to the Assembly committee on the recent developments at the mass grave in Raska of Serbia. Gjetaj said he could not speak with numbers but that they believe 250 to 450 bodies may have been buried at the site. “Exhumations will tell the truth”, he said. As to what region the victims buried at the mass grave are from, Gjetaj said they only have one lead so far that suggests that they were mainly from Drenica. At the same time, Gërxhaliu said that only five bodies have been recovered so far from the mass grave.   Robinson: Do not speculate with numbers (Epoka e Re) Speaking about the discovered mass grave in Raska, co-head of EULEX forensics, Alan Robinson, stated that when the number of the bodies is concerned, everyone should show maturity. “I am aware of the speculations circulating regarding the number, but I strongly demand to show maturity and constraint on this issue. The number could be big, and it also can be smaller than expected by majority of people. The complete number of victims will be determined as soon as the entire forensic work is complete,” stated Robinson.   Majhen: Visas for Kosovo to be removed (Kosova Sot) Slovenian Ambassador in Kosovo, Miljan Majhen, said in an interview for this daily that it is difficult to determine when the negotiations would conclude, but that Slovenia supports a process that would end negotiations as soon as possible, in order for the people of Kosovo to be able to travel freely in Europe. “We have already mentioned the good relationship between Kosovo and Slovenia, we also have good relations with Serbia, one of the facilitating initiatives that Slovenia has undertaken is Brdo process, where it also invited representatives of Kosovo and Serbia at the same time,” said Majhen.