Headlines - 21.08.2013 Jacobson: Fight crime and corruption (Zëri) Tracey Ann-Jacobson, U.S. Ambassador in Kosovo, says in an interview for the paper that if Kosovo wants to be seen as a serious democracy and attract investments it needs to combat corruption. She suggests that confiscating the assets of people who gained them through corruption or crime could produce effects. “I think an element of progress this year is the law for confiscation of assets, which allows police to confiscate the assets of people who gained them through corruption or crime. This law has already been implemented once in terms of confiscation of assets,” she was quoted as saying. Commenting on the work of the EU rule-of-law mission (EULEX), Jacobson said the mission is doing a good job with the facts it has. Jacobson said she expects the November local elections to be free and without interference and hopes that the European Union will send its observers. Hoxhaj: Recognition from Israel, would serve stability of region (dailies) The Foreign Minister of Kosovo, Enver Hoxhaj, met on Tuesday with a delegation of the European Jewish Union, headed by its chief executive, Tomer Orni. During the meeting, Minister Hoxhaj informed the delegation on the progress made in Kosovo, advance on European integration as well as continuous strengthening of international subjectivity of Kosovo. He expressed appreciation for the great support of Jewish diaspora in the U.S. and Europe in the process of freedom and independence of Kosovo. “The population of Kosovo as reached its aspiration for an independent and sovereign state with the support and will of the international community, just as the Israeli state was created based on the international will after the World War II,” said Hoxhaj and added that recognition by Israel would serve strengthening of the state of Kosovo as well as long term peace and stability in the region. Cliff: Britain supports implementation of the agreement  (Epoka e Re) The British Ambassador in Kosovo, Ian Cliff, valued the achievements of the Government of Kosovo, and confirmed that the Great Britain will support Kosovo on its way towards the Euro-Atlantic integration. During a meeting with Deputy Prime Minister Edita Tahiri, on Tuesday, Cliff expressed the full support of Britain on implementation of the agreement for normalization of the relations between the Republic of Kosovo and Serbia. Tahiri on the other hand spoke about the importance for all parties involved to work based on the spirit of the agreement and to respect the deadlines during the implementation.  Missing persons families voices to be heard at Security Council (Epoka) Representatives of associations of missing persons on Tuesday sent a letter to Kosovo Prime Minister Hashim Thaci and Foreign Minister Enver Hoxhaj asking them to read it in its entirety at the upcoming session of the United Nations Security Council. The SC session will be held on August 29^th, one day before the International Day for Missing Persons. Prenk Gjetaj, chairman of the government committee on missing persons, says representatives of families want to raise this issue at the United Nations General Assembly in September in order to step up international pressure on Serbian authorities to shed light on the fate of missing persons. “Serbian institutions are the key factors in shedding light on the fate of missing persons, because they have information, but without pressure or conditions they will continue to hide the locations of mass graves,” Gjetaj said. Daka: Logo will never be discussed (Koha) Valdete Daka, chairwoman of Kosovo’s Central Election Committee (CEC), denies that the logo of the voting ballot was ever discussed. “It won’t be discussed in the future either,” Daka told the newspaper on Tuesday. Meanwhile, some CEC members have expressed concern that questions surrounding the placing of the CEC logo and the denomination “Republic of Kosovo” prove the threat lurking over Kosovo. Vetëvendosje’s representative in the CEC, Alban Krasniqi told reporters on Tuesday the law on symbols clearly provides that all documents of Kosovo institutions need to have the emblem of the institution and the denomination “Republic of Kosovo”. “The CEC logo has two logos and this is obligatory. This issue was not even discussed for the ballots of the previous elections. Now we can see that this is completely political and a result of the dialogue process with Serbia. We even saw Edita Tahiri giving explanations on whether or not there should be a logo on voting ballots,” Krasniqi added. Discussions about symbols pushed Nagavci to refuse CEC (dailies) The paper reports that Arbërie Nagavci, a candidate by the New Kosovo Alliance (AKR) to join the Central Election Committee, said on Tuesday that she has turned down the offer. Nagavci told reporters in Gjakova that she decided to reject the offer after the latest discussions on the logo of the voting ballots.