Headlines - 28.03.2014

Thaci: Kosovo cannot be compared to Crimea (Reuters/dailies)

Russia should stop using Kosovo’s independence from Serbia to justify its Crimea incursion because the two cannot be compared, Prime Minister Hashim Thaci said on Thursday. Russian leader Vladimir Putin criticised Western nations for being hypocritical, saying they endorsed Kosovo’s right to self-determination and independence from Serbia, but now deny Crimeans the right to leave Ukraine. Thaçi said the former Serbian province, which became independent in 2008, had no similarities to the events in Ukraine. Serbia, a largely Orthodox Christian nation with historic ties to Russia, lost control of Kosovo when NATO launched raids to halt Serbian atrocities and “ethnic cleansing” under Slobodan Milosevic. The 78-day bombing campaign, starting in March 1999, has been a source of ire for Russia and an example of what Putin says is the frequent use of deadly force by Washington under the pretext of human rights concerns. “Kosovo is a unique case. The international community intervened after the genocide by Serbia took place,” Thaci told Reuters. “We never demanded to leave one country and join another.” He said, “the approach to change the borders and annex territories from another country is a wrong approach that can have consequences for the whole world.”

Tribunal like SITF (Tribuna)

In a front page report, the team that is laying the groundwork for setting up the court that will address the possible indictments made in the Council of Europe’s report is visiting certain European capitals. The Special Court will be an international mechanism largely modeled on the Special Investigative Task Force (SITF) that was set up by the EU to investigate allegations in Dick Marty’s report. SITF’s mandate was under EULEX but its headquarters was in Brussels. According to sources, a similar scenario will be applied for the Special Court.

Tribunal to be established in April (Lajm)

The paper reports on the front page that the coalition of non-governmental organizations, “Democracy in Action”, met yesterday with AAK leader Ramush Haradinaj to discuss the law on elections. After the meeting, Haradinaj stated that the Tribunal on war crimes would be established in April.

PM Thaci sides with convicted Prizren mayor (Koha Ditore)

In an interview for KTV’s Rubikon, Prime Minister Hashim Thaci said he sees no reason why Prizren mayor Ramadan Muja, who was recently found guilty by the basic court for misuse of duty, should not resume his duties. Thaci said that a defendant is innocent until the final verdict and that Muja will have to exhaust all appeal possibilities. “Mayor Muja and others have no right to interfere in the work of the judiciary. The Ministry for Local Government found that suspension is not foreseen by the law, but that Muja is entitled to continue exercising his mandate,” Thaci said. Asked about the Tribunal that would handle alleged crimes committed by the former Kosovo Liberation Army, Thaci said nothing would be done outside Kosovo’s jurisdiction. Commenting on Dick Marty’s allegations, Thaci said, “Dick Marty’s report is science fiction. The KLA did not commit crimes, Serbia did. Our fight was clean. Marty is trying to stain Kosovo’s image and to rewrite Kosovo’s history.” Thaci also commented on EULEX, saying that the mission would take on an advisory role.

KLA War Veterans threaten to protest in front of Parliament (Lajm)

KLA veterans are threatening to organise protests in front of Parliament if the presidency of this institution fails to include the bill on war veterans in the agenda. “We expected that the bill would be included in the agenda yesterday,” said KLA War Veterans Secretary Faton Klinaku. “If our request is not approved by Monday, 31 March, 2014, and if the bill is not included in the agenda, KLA War Veterans will organise protests on the same day starting at 13:00 hrs,” stated a press release issued by the War Veterans.

Çitaku: We fulfilled the criteria (Epoka e Re)

Minister for European Integration Vlora Çitaku said in an interview for this daily that Kosovo institutions have implemented all the criteria on visa liberalisation. Çitaku informed that a technical delegation will visit several states from the Schengen Zone, and added that she expects negotiations to be finalised next month. Çitaku stated that the five EU countries that have not recognised Kosovo do not hold a negative position on liberalizing Kosovars visas.

Transfer of Serb illegals to Kosovo institutions delayed (Koha Ditore)

The paper reports on the front page that even after municipal elections in the north, the Serb illegal municipal administration there has not stopped functioning and the Kosovo government continues to pay the salaries of the illegal Serb officials. Kosovo’s Ministry for Local Government has yet to prepare the plan for the integration of the administrations that work under Serbia’s system. This ministry is expected to lead the transformation of illegal administrations into legal institutions. The ministry was not available for comment.

Serb managers of Trepca meet Serbian President Nikolic (Zeri)

Serb managers in the Trepca mining complex in Mitrovica North are preparing to sign a partnership agreement with the American company, New Generation Power. The latter signed a cooperation agreement with Serbian authorities regarding investments in the mining complex. Serb managers met with Serbian President Tomislav Nikolic in Belgrade on Thursday to discuss the importance of the agreement with NGP. Local media in Mitrovica North quoted Nikolic as saying that the agreement with NGP is very important and that it should be entirely implemented. If the partnership agreement is signed, 51 percent of shares of the Mitrovica North mining complex would be owned by Serbia, and 49 percent of shares would belong to the American consortium.

Assembly fails to elect Ombudsperson (Bota Press)

Kosovo Parliament members failed to elect the Ombudsperson even after two rounds of voting. In the first round, Hilmi Jashari received 41 votes, Gjyljeta Mushkolaj 37 votes and Adrijana Hodzic five votes. Jashari and Mushkolaj, who went to the second round, failed to get the required number of votes. Parliament will not announce the vacancy after another 30 days.

Lunacek: Women who wear headscarves are submissive (Tribuna)

European Parliament Deputy Urlike Lunacek, spoke at the “Week of Women” held in Kosovo on the role of women in European integrations. She stated that Kosovo has marked progress on respecting the role of women. She stressed that Kosovo has the first woman president in the region, which proves that progress is being made, however she expressed concern that violence towards women is not being treated at the required level. Asked about the ban of headscarves in schools, Lunacek stated that she personally considers that it is better to attend public schools than religious ones, since the former is not as informed on what happens there. She said that religious requirements to wear headscarves places women in submissive roles and at a lower rank. According to her, this even happens in Catholicism.

EULEX police ignore orders from local judges (Tribuna)

Police officers from EULEX did not act on the orders of the local judges to carry out a search operation in Zubin Potok at the house of one of the suspects in the killing of Kosovo Police officer, Enver Zymberi, back in 2011. While the case was confirmed by chief prosecutor, Shyqeri Syla, EULEX denied having received such a request.

Salustro returned where he belongs (Epoka e Re)

Klan Kosova reported that there are allegations that former EULEX chief of the Special Prosecution, Mauricio Salustro, after ending his mandate in Kosovo, has taken over the position of the principal advisor of Deputy Chief Prosecutor for War Crimes, Bruno Vekaric. Klan Kosova reported that Kosovo’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Justice was not pleased with this news. “I personally supported Mr. Salustro, but I did not support him to go to Belgrade. And after all my political support, I have dilemmas with whom he was serving while he was here,” said Kuçi during an activity organized by the Fund for Humanitarian Rights.

EUBRD ready to engage on railway projects (Epoka e Re)

Kosovo’s Minister of Finance Besim Beqaj met on Thursday with a delegation of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, headed by the Director of the Transport Section, Sue Berret. Beqaj stressed the need to enhance cooperation with EUBRD in concrete projects, and informed the delegation on the macroeconomic situation and potentials of Kosovo. Berret, on the other hand, expressed the EUBRD’s readiness to get involved in railway projects, to finalize investments on European roads and on the railway line, which would connect Kosovo with the countries in the region.

Minister Hoxhaj equipped with Greek visa (Lajm)

In their farewell meeting, the outgoing chief of the Greek liaison office in Pristina, Dimitris Moschopoulos, gave Kosovo Foreign Minister Enver Hoxhaj the first Greek Schengen visa. Ambassador Moschopoulos explained this symbolic act with the fact that Minister Hoxhaj insisted during his recent visits to Athens that Greek visas should be placed on Kosovar passports and that they should be valid for the entire Schengen zone.