Headlines - 11.07.2016

US Assistant Secretary of State Victoria Nuland visits Kosovo (media)

The United States Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs, Victoria Nuland, visited Kosovo on Sunday and held separate meetings with President Hashim Thaçi, Assembly President Kadri Veseli, Prime Minister Isa Mustafa and Deputy Prime Minister Branimir Stojanović. Nuland did not meet with opposition leaders.

Most media highlight Nuland’s remarks that the border demarcation with Montenegro is “an artificial problem”. Gazeta Blic notes: “Nuland’s message is clear: Kosovo needs to find a solution to the border demarcation issue during the summer”. Indeksonline reports that “the senior U.S. official has scolded Kosovo’s leaders.

“The Kosovo Assembly needs to find, this summer, a solution to the demarcation issue with Montenegro,” Nuland told RTK in an interview. “The debate on this issue in the Assembly is relatively artificial and the problem is made up”.

“Kosovo needs a dynamic Assembly, where elected representatives meet to debate and not to throw teargas. We encourage the work in the Assembly. We strongly support demarcation because this involves Kosovo’s sovereignty. It is something that is needed for the future. We want to see young people having opportunities for development. It is an issue of the future and we don’t want to see it become politicized … The United States have been investing in Kosovo’s sovereignty and independence for 20 years”.

Nuland called on Kosovo’s institutions to address problems that the people are expecting to be resolved, to clean up the judiciary and to fight crime and corruption.

Nuland said Kosovo has achieved progress in the war against terror. “Kosovo however needs to work more on economic development,” she said. “When there is such a high rate of unemployment among young people, especially outside the cities, the youth fall prey to recruitment by extremist groups. Kosovo has made great progress in preventing those that want to join foreign wars”.

In her meeting with President Thaçi, Nuland said Kosovo needs to make concrete steps on several matters before autumn when presidential elections will be held in the U.S. Nuland also said that for the U.S., the judiciary remains a priority. President Thaci briefed Nuland on the latest developments in Kosovo and his priorities. Thaci said that it is time to focus the attention on decisions that are important for Kosovo’s future. “The Assembly needs to ratify the border-demarcation with Montenegro as soon as possible. This has unnecessarily become a political issue that is hurting the people of Kosovo by delaying visa liberalization and the further consolidation of the state,” Thaçi said.

Mustafa said Kosovo’s institutions, with the support of the U.S., will address the border demarcation with Montenegro, and pave the way to visa-free travel for Kosovo’s people in the EU. Nuland stressed the importance of addressing the border demarcation with Montenegro. Nuland also acknowledged Kosovo’s reforms in the economy, the fight against terror and expressed support for the construction of the Kosova e Re [New Kosovo] power plant.

In his meeting with Nuland, Assembly President Veseli said the transformation of the Kosovo Security Force is a necessary process for strengthening the state of Kosovo. Nuland said the U.S. administration will continue to strongly support Kosovo. She added that strengthening the rule of law, the judiciary, fighting corruption and organized crime, are crucial for Kosovo’s progress.

Carpenter: No shortcuts for transformation of KSF (media)

The United States Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defence with responsibility for Russia, Ukraine, and Eurasia, Michael Carpenter, met on Sunday in Pristina with Kosovo Security Force (KSF) Minister, Haki Demolli. Carpenter said that the transformation of the KSF into Kosovo Armed Force (KAF) should be done in accordance with the Kosovo Constitution. “The transformation of the KSF into KAF should go through the proper constitutional processes and legislation amendments and we support this. However, this needs to be done through certain steps and unfortunately there are no shortcuts in this process … “You all know that the U.S is a strong supporter of an independent Kosovo, and we proved this with the support that we have given to the KSF through trainings and equipment,” Carpenter said.

Haradinaj urges MPs not to ratify border demarcation deal (Kosova Sot)

The Alliance for the Future of Kosovo (AAK) leader, Ramush Haradinaj, urged members of the Kosovo Assembly on Sunday not to vote in favour of the border demarcation agreement with Montenegro. He said Kosovo is determined to pursue its Euro-Atlantic integrations and that rejection of the current version of the demarcation agreement only increases respect of Kosovo partners.

Berisha: Nuland had no reason to meet opposition leaders (Kosova Sot)

The Initiative for Kosovo (NISMA) MP, Zafir Berisha, said that he sees no problem with the fact that the US Assistant Secretary of State, Victoria Nuland, met no opposition representative during her visit to Kosovo. Berisha said Nuland’s key message focused on fight against corruption and organised crime for which, said Berisha, institutional leaders head. It is ridiculous, added Berisha, how the international community calls for fight of corruption from the people who are engulfed in it.

Mustafa announces government reshuffling again (Epoka e Re)

According to the paper, partners of the ruling coalition have expressed their readiness to reshuffle the government and to reduce the number of ministries. Prime Minister Isa Mustafa raised the issue in his meeting with U.S. Assistant Secretary of State, Victoria Nuland, on Sunday. “Prime Minister Mustafa stressed the interest on working on the reformatting of the government, which would include reduction of the cabinet, involvement of the new people as well as increase of efficiency and acceleration of the reforming processes,” notes a press release issued by the government.

Kosovo Serb mayors to draft Association/Community statute (RTK)

According to Zëri, the drafting of the statute for the Association/Community of Serb-majority Municipalities will be carried out by Serb mayors of the four northern municipalities who will work closely with the Kosovo’s Ministry of Local Government and Administration, the OSCE and will also occasionally coordinate actions with Brussels. Kosovo officials said the working group will very soon be established but that the Association/Community will not become functional until Serbia implements its obligations from the Brussels agreements.

Court in the north from January 2017 (Epoka e Re)

Judge Jelena Krivokapić and lawyer Lubomir Pantić assessed at a public discussion organized in Zveqan/Zvečani, that the judiciary won’t be able to meet the September deadline for implementing the Brussels Agreement. Serb judges and lawyers argued that it is very difficult for the integrated judicial system in the north to implement the agreement. They said that the conditions are not created for Serb judges and prosecutors to integrate in Kosovo’s justice system this year. “I am not optimistic with regard to 1 October. I would rather say that we will spend 2016 with two justice systems. We have many technical issues to resolve, and even the court buildings are not prepared properly,” Pantić said.