Headlines - 08.07.2013 Ashton confirms visit to Pristina and Belgrade (Koha Ditore) The EU High Representative for Foreign Policy and Security, Catherine Ashton, will be visiting Serbia and Kosovo next week. This visit will take place after the thirteenth round of the dialogue between the Prime Ministers, Hashim Thaçi and Ivica Dacic, which will be held on Monday, in Brussels. In Belgrade, Ashton will be meeting President Nikolic, PM Dacic, and Deputy Prime Minister Vucic, while in Pristina, she will have meetings with President Jahjaga and Prime Minister Thaçi. “I will continue the discussions with Serbia’s and Kosovo’s leadership, in order to move forward with the dialogue and implementation of the reached agreements,” said Ashton. Rasmussen: I haven’t heard Pristina wants KSF to be an army (Koha Ditore) In an interview for the paper, NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said the situation in Kosovo has improved but that a great deal more remains to be done. He also said that for the time being, NATO will not downsize its troops in Kosovo. “I hope that in a distant perspective we will be able to further reduce the number of our troops. But at present, when dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina is ongoing, I think we should maintain our current level for a while,” said Rasmussen. Speaking about the Kosovo Security Force, Rasmussen said there has been progress and that NATO is reviewing military assessments regarding KSF capacities and this could lead to announcement that the Force has reached full operational capacity. However, he said he never heard statements from authorities in Pristina indicating that KSF will transform into an army. “I would expect this Force to continue working according to its current mandate, protect the civilian population and participate in natural disaster relief,” said NATO chief. Tahiri: We expect agreement on telecom and energy (Epoka e Re) Deputy Prime Minister Edita Tahiri said today’s meeting between prime ministers Hashim Thaçi and Ivica Dacic is expected to conclude in an agreement on telecom and energy. She told the paper that there is already a draft agreement on these issues prepared by the EU based on the parties’ stances. “I remain optimistic about both fields because this is also an EU expectation to resolve these two issues as this process started in March of 2011 and we are discussing these fields for over two years,” said Tahiri. Five wounded near the border with Serbia (Koha Ditore) Five persons are reported to have sustained gun-shot injuries in the village of Mirofc near the border between Kosovo and Serbia. Kosovo Police said the injuries were a result of a fire-exchange suspected to have been with forces of Serb Gendarmerie. The wounded persons are believed to have been illegally cutting woods. Serb media reported that a group of Albanians entered the territory of Serbia and tried to cut wood near the village of Borovac. Kosovo ready to accept 200 Serb police officers from the north (Tribuna) Kosovo party has offered 200 positions for Serbs of the north who want to fulfill security criteria of Kosovo. Deputy Prime Minister, Edita Tahiri, stated that the offered figures by Kosovo reflect the absorbing capacity of Kosovo institutions and respect ethnic criteria. “We have also said that recruiting will be made according to Kosovo laws and procedures. Based on the analyses made, the number of the members at security sector that could be engaged is 200. So this number for the entire security structure,” said Tahiri. She added that figures for judges and prosecutors are not given yet, however they have clarified procedures and criteria that they should respect.