Tahiri: Serbia should remove Kosovo from its Constitution (Zëri/RFE)

Kosovo’s Minister without portfolio, Edita Tahiri, during an interview with Radio Free Europe said that now is the time for Serbia to remove Kosovo from the preamble of its Constitution. According to her, Serbia cannot join the EU without recognizing the independence of Kosovo and added that "at the end of the process of dialogue, there will be mutual recognition between Kosovo and Serbia.”  “As a condition for European integration Serbia has also the chapter 35 which obliges it to have good neighborly relations. We have also requested that Serbia removes Kosovo from its Constitution, because you cannot have good neighborly relations with a controversial Constitution,” Tahiri said.  Speaking of the working group to draft the statute of the Association/Community of Serb-majority municipalities, Tahiri said that such group   has not been formed yet. “This group has not been formed yet and we all know the reason. We have made clear our condition that Serbia must implement the agreements reached so far, such as telephone code, Ibër/Ibar River Bridge and the agreement on energetics,” Tahiri said.

Bosnia and Herzegovina relaxes visa requirements for Kosovo (Koha Ditore)

Authorities in Sarajevo have launched the process of relaxing visa procedures for the people of Kosovo. In a meeting in June, the Council of Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina tasked the Foreign Ministry to begin simplification of visa procedures for Kosovo. The move comes after a wide campaign organised by the Open Society Foundations.

Isufi: Experts’ views on demarcation should be listened to (Epoka e Re)

In an interview for the paper, deputy leader of the Alliance for the Future of Kosovo (AAK), Ahmet Isufi, said that the government of Kosovo needs to listen to the experts’ voice with regards to the border demarcation agreement with Montenegro. He said his party will go all the way in insisting that relevant documents are used in the demarcation process and will not settle for any other alternative. “We expect the roundtable on demarcation to bring the truth out about the border between Kosovo and Montenegro. All those that have been manipulated so far will fail at this roundtable”, said Isufi.

UNMIK rebuts Hoxhaj’s statements (Tribuna Channel)

The UN Mission in Kosovo has rebutted the statements made by Kosovo’s Foreign Minister Enver Hoxhaj that UNMIK is not desirable in Kosovo and that its mandate has been extended because of Russia’s opposition to any changes in the UN Security Council Resolution 1244. UNMIK Spokesperson Jan Malekzade told Tribuna Channel that not a single country can decide on UNMIK’s mandate and its functions but that this is a decision that rests on the Security Council. Vetëvendosje spokesperson Frashër Krasniqi said that the presence of UNMIK is a problem for Kosovo as the mission functions based on a Security Council resolution which considers Kosovo part of Serbia.

Đuric: Failure of Sunny Valley can destabilize Kosovo (Tribuna Channel)

The director of the Office for Kosovo in the Serbian Government, Marko Đuric, told Tribuna Channel that the failure to implement the Sunny Valley project in northern Kosovo could destabilize the security situation in Kosovo.  “The return of the displaced Serbs, along with security guarantee, is an obligation of the ruling-coalition parties in Kosovo. Avoiding this obligation would destabilize the situation and the political relations in Pristina. The Serbian people treat the building of the Sunny Valley neighborhood as a project of national importance. Any attempt to actively stop the construction of this settlement would be a violation of the process of establishing trust between the Serbian and Albanian people and destabilize the security situation in Kosovo,” Đuric said.

KP steps up security measures in face of recent attacks in Europe (Zëri)

The paper reports in a front-page story that the Kosovo Police (KP) has increased the security measures after the attacks in several European countries.  Even though the statistics say that no Kosovar has traveled to Iraq and Syria since September last year, members of the Kosovo Assembly say that this does not make Kosovo less vulnerable to terrorist attacks. According to the Kosovo Police, currently there are around 70 fighters from Kosovo in Iraq and Syria.  “In Iraq and Syria there are around 70 fighters. During the last year the police have initiated investigations against 119 persons, out of this number 102 were arrested while 34 were convicted,” KP spokesperson Daut Hoxha told the paper.