Headlines - 10.09.2013 Government hides agreements, waits for “signal” from EU (Koha Ditore) Kosovo Government confirms that it has reached an agreement with Serbia on telecommunication and energy but it refuses to make it public until it receives a signal from the EU. Meanwhile, the Kosovo Government officials are giving their own partial interpretations for what the agreements contain. According to the interpretation of Deputy Prime Minister Edita Tahiri, the Kosovo Government will allow the licensing of a Serb telecom operator in Kosovo, which she says is a temporary arrangement. She adds that the Kosovar public will be able to see the agreements once they are harmonized with Brussels but did not explain what harmonization of agreements entails and whether it means they will undergo further changes.  At the same time, the information given on Monday by Tahiri in a press conference is to a large extent contradictory to the claims of the Serb side regarding recent agreements. In the field of fixed telephone lines, according to Tahiri, the licensing of a new company is foreseen for providing a fixed telephone line service, despite how there is no need for an international bid advertisement. Regarding the mobile network, Tahiri said that it couldn’t be given a license, because an international bid is needed. “Trade war” wages on, Skopje threatens to impose visa regime (dailies) Kosovo’s embargo on Macedonian goods is set to continue throughout the week as the governments of the two countries failed yesterday to find a solution to resolve the current situation. In fact, reports Koha Ditore, the “battle” has only gotten fiercer as media in Skopje spoke of the possibility of the Macedonian Government imposing a visa regime on Kosovo citizens. However, behind the scenes, there are ongoing negotiations between the parties, with reports suggesting that the deadlocked situation may be resolved by 15 September. There was a meeting yesterday between Kosovo’s Minister of Trade and Industry Mimoza Kusari-Lila and Macedonian Minister of Economy Valon Saraçini, but the two did not manage to come to an acceptable solution. Kusari-Lila said the Government of Kosovo will lift its embargo only after Macedonia suspends restrictive measures it has put on flour and wheat import from Kosovo while Saraçini insisted Skopje’s moves are not directed at Kosovo only and that they are not in violation of the free trade agreement, CEFTA. Footnote did not meet expectations (Tribuna) The agreement for Kosovo’s international representation through a footnote has not enabled the country to gain membership in many international organizations, as originally anticipated by government leadership. Prime Minister Hashim Thaçi had said at the time the agreement was reached that it will pave the way for Kosovo to join more than 100 international organizations. Political analysts claim that Kosovo should have used the footnote to its advantage by applying for membership in international as well as regional mechanisms. Decision on the “Srbija” list on Tuesday (Koha Ditore) Koha Ditore reports that the Kosovo Election Commission certified 52 political entities, civic initiatives and independent candidates. However, when it voted for their certification, “Srbija” was among those not on the list, which are the Kosovo Serbs running. The certification of this list, and other remaining issues, are expected to be completed by Tuesday. Jasmina Vasic appointed deputy minister of KSF (dailies) Kosovo Prime Minister Hashim Thaçi appointed Jasmina Vasic to the post of Deputy Minister of Kosovo Security Force. Vasic is from Gracanica and replaces Slavisa Filipovic. Vasic is nominated by the Social Democracy Party. RTK director sacks RTK 2’s editor-in-chief (Koha Ditore) General Director of public broadcaster RTK Mentor Shala sacked editor-in-chief of the newly established RTK 2 Zoran Culafic after the latter accused RTK 2 director, Zarko Joksimovic, of nepotism and financial misuse. Joksimovic denied allegations against him and said they are merely speculations. Joksimovic said Culafic was dismissed because he failed to successfully perform his duties.